Phoenix Uprising
by Poeticjustice89
Summary: What do you do when no one beleives you? A story of overcoming obstacles, betrayal and love
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing and I'm not generating any income on this. All recognizable characters belong to J.K .Rowling and affiliates. In lay man's language...Me no own...

Genre: Action/Adventure/ Romance

Main Character's: HP, DM, RW, HG, GW, PP

A/N: Just a simple attempt at writing an action/adventure story that's actually enjoyable. It's a work in progress and I would highly appreciate comments, flames are somewhat acceptable... we all need a little hot and spicy every now and then. The nastier you are the nastier the reply, it's only fair no?

CHAPTER I

Harry Potter looked around the platform. He was early. Intentionally so of course. He had wanted to avoid the last minute rush that was typical of platform nine and three quarters that always came with the beginning of a new school year. Well, that and the fact that he was avoiding a certain breed of overly concerned but well wishing red heads. He could already hear their questions in his head "Does this have anything to do with the final battle?", "Its Sirius isn't it?" So he didn't write to them over the holidays, a man's entitled to his privacy isn't he? They just didn't get it; he was past his godfather's death. It had been two years ago, the guilt was there, but he had to let go of it, for now. That is if he ever intended on staying alive. The final showdown with Voldemort hadn't really gone as planned. The dark Lord was dead but that was only the beginning, he had known he was weak and that his wraith like body wouldn't last long. So he had taken an alternate route and in true dark lord fashion he had harnessed an ancient form of magic and transferred his soul into someone else's body. It had been set up in such a fashion that as soon as the death curse was thrown at him, they exchanged souls. 'I feel sorry for the poor bastard' Harry thought as he found himself a compartment on the train. Obviously enough, the owner of the body Voldemort inhabited was dead, or stuck in limbo, whatever happened when such magic is performed.

He sat down on the bench and stared out the window. He let out a deep sigh as he thought of how much his life had changed. In fact the only constant in his life was Voldemort, Ironic. Ron and Hermione had finally gotten together, he moved out of the Dursley's: well run away to be exact, which had led him into the predicament he was currently in. He let his mind wander, as he recalled the events of his summer.

It had been quite a delightful morning that summer, there was a soft breeze blowing outside making the current temperatures bearably comfortable and Harry's relatives hadn't bothered him for days, not even the usual lip he got from Dudley. Apart from his daily chores which he had no actual problem with - he liked routine, it was safe - he had been left well alone for the first two weeks into his vacation. He should have known it wouldn't last though, the calm before the storm as one would say.

After cooking quite a scrumptious meal for dinner - he had become quite the chef - Harry was standing in front of the kitchen sink washing the dishes when his uncle walked in, in a less than pleasant mood. The words Uncle Vernon and pleasant didn't occur often these days. Apparently from a conversation Harry had overheard - see eaves dropping- earlier between his aunt and her best friend a plump lady by the name of Gloria something, Harry really couldn't be bothered to remember. The company his uncle was working with was going bankrupt and they had to retrench a few of their workers. A few obviously meaning more than half of the task force, his uncle's department came under this percentile, hence he was overly agitated at being under immense pressure to do some actual work for once, to the point of being abusive. Only last week Harry had seen his uncle shove his aunt to the ground and raise his hand to her, of course they had no idea he was watching. Though his uncle was yet to hit anyone, the tension in the house when he was home was thick enough to slice with a knife. They could only pray that he didn't get too angry, Dudley himself had ceased his useless banter and took to standing near his mother in a protective stance every time his father was in the room. Harry had to say that it was a noble gesture, yes even if it was his cousin, and we all know too well that Dudley and noble don't travel in the same circles.

Harry had just finished making dinner when his uncle came home. He'd been drinking again; they could all smell the pungent odour of vodka rolling of him. He walked heavily over to the table and sat down. They sat in silence, waiting for his next move. Vernon picked up his fork and shoved the spring beans into his mouth, they waited, he swallowed, before they relaxed a little and started eating. It was all going well, until Petunia spilled some lemonade on him as she was pouring it into his cup. For a few second nothing happened and then all hell broke loose. Vernon slapped the pitcher of juice from her hand sending it smashing into a wall behind them, he then picked up his plate and tried to break it on his wife head, before he grabbed Harry, who was sitting closest by the hair and ramming his head into the table. Poor Harry, now bleeding profusely from the nose hadn't seen it coming and thus delayed his reaction. When his uncle rushed at him again, he brandished his wand at him, which of course deterred the intoxicated man, before he decided to swing at his wife again, all the while screaming about how his own family was betraying him. Harry watched in horror as Vernon caught Petunia by the hair and back handed her across the face sending her falling to the floor. 

It only occurred to him that he'd petrified his uncle when, red eyes, bulging out of an equally red, fat face were staring mean murder at him. It would only be a matter of time before the place was swarming with Ministry officials so he had t act quick. He yelled at his Aunt to get Dudley and run, they didn't need to be told twice, then he himself ran out of the building, not a second too soon before he heard the first 'pop'.

He could have stayed of course, but he didn't trust the Ministry officials, at least not under the leadership of that pompous, arrogant, air-head of a minister, who could no sooner be replaced by a bobbing head, that would probably do the job better. He couldn't risk taking the night bus either, so he ran under the cover of darkness to the nearest bus stop a few mile's away and hopped on the first bus into the heart of London. He used the time on the train to think about where he was going to go, he couldn't obviously go to Diagon Alley and Hermione was out of the question as she had gone to Argentina with the Weasley's. He wandered the back alley's avoiding people, it was while he had ducked into one particular alley to avoid some aurora's he'd recognized, when he was attacked again, from behind this time. A hand slid over his mouth and another around his head, holding him in a deadly vice grip. A voice harshly whispered to him not to squirm and perhaps he wouldn't make it that painful. Harry's eyes widened, but he stopped struggling. His head was then tilted, exposing the jugular vein on his neck, pulsing and throbbing in tune with his racing heart. As he felt two sharp needle like object slice into his skin, he wondered vaguely, whether he would have been better off back at No. 34 Surrey Lane, before passing out.

"Excuse me, you're in my compartment. Get out." Mr. Potter was brought out of his flashback by a civil voice belonging to none other than Pansy Parkinson. He dragged his eyes from the window he was so intently staring out of, to appraise the girl/young woman that was occupying his doorway. The last time he'd seen her was at St. Mungos, trying to help with the injured war victims. He had known for sometime that the slytherin's wouldn't stick long to their dark lord. As soon as they saw he was quickly loosing the battle, they defected. In true Slythetrin fashion, they had come slinking to the light's side, spilling secrets and giving away hide out's to save their own asses. Harry hadn't taken too keenly to most of them, but they needed that information and so he was obliged to offer them sanctuary. In retrospect, he was glad he did, but this time, he needed to know how far they were willing to go. But that would have to wait till later, as the young lady at the door tapped her foot in annoyance.

"Your, compartment? But I don't see your name on it." The only sign of annoyance that graced the face in front of him was a small crinkle in her forehead, which just as quickly as it had appeared smoothed out. He stared intently at her over the rims of his new glasses. Obviously she didn't know who he was, or she would have raised hell. Purebloods did not like being outclassed by half bloods such as himself. Him agreeing to take them in and being the bigger man, when they needed help the most was both the best and worst thing he could have done for them. The best, because it saved their high and mighty behind's from Voldemort; the worst because it was the greatest yet, insult to their pride. He decided to remain anonymous until they arrived at Hogwarts. He felt the train lurch before it began leaving the station. The lurch sent Pansy flying forward ungracefully, but she was caught by a fast arm around her waist, before she could taste the compartment's carpeting.

The arm, he was soon to learn, was attached to a platinum haired beauty who decided to grace his presence at that moment. Now he had two, irate slytherin's shooting dagger's at him with their eyes. "If you wouldn't mind" The platinum haired boy started, but was quickly cut off by the raven in front of him, already knowing what he was getting at. "Actually, you see I do mind. Excuse my ineloquence, but I don't give a rat's arse about this being your compartment. You can either share it with me, or find another. The choice is yours..." A few minutes of mind banter took place between the two in front of him. The boy then nodded his head at the others outside the compartment, before seating themselves gracefully on the opposite bench.

The train was now completely out of the station allowing for harsh sunlight to filter into the compartment. Harry hissed slightly before pointing his wand at the window and whispering something. The window fogged up before tinting itself a few shades shy of black. Pansy who had been studying the young man in front of her gasped inaudibly, when he hissed. She had seen something twinkle in the corner of his mouth briefly, before he closed it. She wasn't too sure what she'd seen, but she could bet her life, that she'd seen it before. She made to comment to Draco, but he was talking to the stranger.

"You just shut the sun out" It was meant to be threatening, but lost its impact somewhere between coming out of his mouth and entering Mr. Potter's ears. He was answered with a stare "And you point would be what exactly?" Harry watched a snarl form on the flawless face, his arguments with Malfoy had lost their valour when the actual war had begun. He just couldn't be bothered really and would only do it now for appearances sake and of course to keep the boredom at bay. "My point would be that you shut out our only available light source" A perfectly manicured hand waved around the compartment. Desperate to get back to his thought's, he stood up and smoothed his clothes - He was decked in a dark blue turtle neck sweater and black jeans - before flicking on the light switch, bathing them once more in the 'desperately' missed light. "Better?" He asked sarcastically before sitting again. He pulled out of the duffel bag he was carrying, a book on charms and their uses. Just as he was opening it, he was interrupted again. This time, by Pansy.

"I would like to apologise for being uncivil earlier and formally introduce myself and my companion." Harry narrowed his eyes at her, before a smile tugged at his lips. He had seen many people change during the war, they had lost their laughter, their zest and some, had even lost their sorrow, leaving them empty. An emptiness he knew, also threatened him, due to the war and other reasons as well. The interesting thing is, even after loosing their family, due to political differences or death and their identities, the purebloods still stuck to their manners, the only real claim they had to the people they abandoned. He wondered if she would still be so civil, if she knew who he was. He took the dainty hand offered him. "I'm Pansy Parkinson and this" She motioned at Draco, who in response offered his hand "Is Draco Malfoy". "Enchantee" He said in french, earning two pairs of raised eyebrows. "Do we know each other from somewhere?" Malfoy asked his tone calm but guarded. Harry let a languid smile paint his face, "As a matter of fact Malfoy, you and I go way back" He watched as confusion played beautifully on his face.

"Okay, how about a different approach, I'm in seventh year at Hogwarts, been there my whole life, not a pureblood and not in Slytherin."

"Well do you have a name?"

"My name Mr. Malfoy is of no consequence" The blond narrowed his eyes but said nothing. "Now if you don't mind I would like to finish my book...in silence" He added.

While the Slytherin's racked their brains, trying to fit his face to a name, he pretended to read his book, looking out the window every now and then. He wondered and some could even say worried at how his friend's and the rest of the public were going to receive the news he had to give. Firstly, about Voldemort; if they took it as well as they had when he'd first told them of the dark Lord's return then he had to change his strategy. Secondly, about his 'situation'.

XXXXXxxxxxXXXXX

The dark Lord had the element of surprise on his side, not to mention all those people who thought Voldemort was actually dead and were scrambling to occupy the power vacuum. In light of recent events an attack early in the year would be potentially hazardous, not to mention easy to cover up, what with the muggle waging war on each other, every other day. Frankly Harry was sick and tired of it all; he just wanted to get on with whatever was left of his life, preferably somewhere in the country, or another city where no one knew him. However since the fates despised him something fierce, he hadn't a popsiclyles chance in hell. He sighed again as it started to rain, 'well that's in order' he thought. After about five minutes or so the bell that signalled they would be arriving at Hogwarts in twenty minutes rang. Pansy excused herself and went off to change in the girl's bathroom, while Draco and Harry changed in the compartment.

Draco watched the other boy carefully. He was almost sure he'd never seen him before, yet he said with certainty that he attended Hogwarts, not only that, but he had some sort of relationship with him. The only people Malfoy had any semblance of a relationship with outside of the Slytherin house, were a few Ravenclaw's and of course there was the hatred thing that was going on with Gryffindor. Out of all those, this stranger didn't fit. His eyebrow rose as he saw the scars criss- crossing the stranger's back, he had seen them one too many times to not know what caused them.

During the war, he'd volunteered at St. Mungos and Hogwarts, often juggling both. His knowledge in potions had come in handy, plus he needed a reason to be 'saved' from the dark lord. After all one of his parent's was missing the other most certainly dead, at the hand of their so called master and he'd be damned if he bowed down to the one that robbed him of his loved one's. The light side had taken him in, without any scruples, at least not that many, about his connexions. He was most certain those scars were incurred at the hands of death eaters only they would dare dabble in the darkest of all magic. It had taken him and his god-father weeks, to figure out a cure for those not already dead from infection or bleeding out and he was most certain the stranger in front of him was none of them. After all he'd administered the potion's himself.

Lost in his thought's he had not seen Harry turn around and was now under the scrutiny of piercing green eyes. He averted his gaze and either he didn't notice Draco was staring at him or he decided not to acknowledge it for now. Instead Harry transfigured a mirror out of his charms book and looked himself over. Over the summer he'd let his hair grow wild, only cutting it when it ventured past his neck, other than that, he let it hang over his ears and into his eyes, effectively shielding them from view and hiding his scar. He'd disposed of the round glasses and replaced them with rectangular ones and grown a few inches, to hit 5ft 8", all in all he was unrecognizable from the pale, scrawny boy he used to be. He fastened his tie, pulled on his sweater followed by his robes, which now bore the insignia H.B on a background of all four houses. Malfoy, who'd taken to observing him again, didn't miss it and proceeded to point it out to Pansy when she returned.

They reached the school shortly after and parted ways under the roaring tempest. The Slytherins joining up with the rest of their posy in one carriage and him grabbing one with random Ravenclaws.

As soon as they got to the castle, Harry left to go find the headmaster. He located him in the trophy room, adjacent to the great hall. After numerous attempts to brush off a private audience with the boy, Professor Dumbledore agreed to talk to him briefly.

"What is it my boy?" Harry's jaw was set and he had a very determined air about him.

"Professor as redundant as this may sound; I have reason to believe Voldemort is not dead." The twinkle in the old man's eye, faded.

"Harry, I know the war had a greater impact on you than it did the others but the dark lord is dead. We saw his body, we saw you fulfil the prophecy." As Harry made to interject he added quickly "I know it has taken up most of your life and I can understand..." Harry cut him off more than a little peeved.

"This is not about me headmaster; it's about all of us, the state of mindless celebration the wizarding world is in that is leaving us more than vulnerable to him. I know he's still alive, I can feel him." The headmaster eyed him critically.

"Has your scar been aching again?" He asked concerned and Harry almost felt sorry for the way he'd gone off on the man who was his mentor, almost.

"No, but I'm the only one with any REAL connection to him and I know he's not dead. What you saw was an illusion an elaborate hoax hatched only between him and his closest death eaters. I've been reading up on it during the holidays and the only conclusion is that he harnessed earth magic and is somewhere out there wreaking havoc in someone else's body."

Dumbledore stared at him for what seemed like ages over the top of his glasses. "I assure you Harry that he is gone. The dark mark has faded and his closest allies are all in Azkaban and I doubt Voldemort himself would do something as stupid as harness that type of dark magic, besides Harry, the ways of harnessing Earth magic died out with it centuries ago. I would like you to forget about this and focus on the rest of your life, which might I add is no longer subject to prophecy. Mr. Potter this is your second chance, you now control your own destiny, don't let it go..."

Any attempts at furthering the conversation were squashed by a raised wrinkled old hand as the headmaster led them into the great hall.

"Now tell me, are you looking forward to being head boy?

AN: If you noticed the shift in writing pattern's somewhere in there I apologize, its supposed to flow I know...But I got hungry...and as much as I would like to preserve the romanticism of the starving Bohemian writer, I have to eat you know...hunger stems my creativity. Now ya'll this is my first ever Action/Adventure fic. So be nice. Oh and I may need a little help because I have absolutely no idea where this is going after the next five chapters. It just begged to be written you know. The charachter's are OOC mostly because I believe only Jk can write canon. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing and I'm not generating any income on this. All recognizable characters belong to J.K .Rowling and affiliates. In lay man's language...Me no own...

Genre: Action/Adventure/ Romance

Main Character's: HP, DM, RW, HG, GW, PP

(...words...) thoughts

Chapter II

Harry stared at the headmaster, more than a little pissed at being told he had a 'second chance', which he bloody well knew he wouldn't need if he wasn't the one named in a stupid prophecy, especially since he neither wanted nor needed the responsibility or attention. Realizing in the few seconds it took to reach the great hall, that the one person who would have believed him had just brushed him off, Harry made a drastic decision.

After the usual welcome back speech Dumbledore added "Welcome back for another year at Hogwarts and I dare say a new wizarding world." He paused for the applause before continuing after it subsided. "For the sake of clarity I will be announcing the names of those in the Prefect's council and the head boy and head girl tonight. Now would the respective people please make their way up here?" Five minutes passed in the rustling of robes as five people from each house made their way to the head table and stood in order. Harry who'd come in through the side entrance with the headmaster, walked out of the shadows and stood in the middle, facing the school. He smiled as Hermione made her way to his left; she had the grace to look embarrassed for not looking for him on the train. He squeezed her hand discreetly to let her know it was ok. It wasn't like he had wanted to be found anyway. His eyebrow shot up when he saw who'd been chosen to head the Prefect's council.

Draco Malfoy once again found himself in the presence of the stranger on the train. He still hadn't figured out who the boy was and frankly that worried him, memory loss wasn't a really good sign for a wizard of his stature. He semi-pouted as he stood to the head boy's left, well at least he'd find out sooner or later, he thought as people stopped pouring out of the tables and Dumbledore started talking again. "Now, most of you recognize your classmates, but for the sake of the first years and our new additions; the two in the middle are the head boy and head girl, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger respectively their counterparts in the council are Draco Malfoy and Helga Smith..." Harry drained out the rest of the announcement as he watched Draco's reaction. The young Malfoy seemed to go rigid at his side, before carefully turning an un-gelled head of platinum blonde locks in his direction. Harry gave him his most charming smile, careful not to open his mouth much; Malfoy just turned away a scowl firmly in place.

(That bastard, all this time he's been playing us.) Draco fumed in his head for the duration of the mini- speech, looking at Pansy every now and then for support. She seemed just as miffed as he was, (I mean wasn't it enough that they humiliated us when we came to them for help?) He was slowly turning pink, a colour that made him look more constipated than angry with the expression he was wearing. In his defence though, he was fighting the urge to throw a tantrum and instead decided to focus on what was being said. It was Potter speaking, just another fact that made him even angrier.

"I would like to take it upon myself as your student representative to also welcome you back to Hogwarts and say that we are all one big family here and hope we may help your adjustment as easy as possible" He gave his most charming smile again, making more than a few girls swoon. "Unfortunately" the hall went silent and even Dumbledore looked confused "Though grateful for the honour, I will have to forfeit my position due to, personal issues and to take me place I would like to suggest one Draco Malfoy. Now if you'll excuse me." Harry took that moment to walk out of the hall, no one noticed however until ten minutes later when the headmaster had come out of his shocked stupor and regained control. He amended his earlier speech by declaring Draco Malfoy the new head boy, Harry had put him in quite a tight spot and he couldn't refuse to put the Malfoy heir in the recently vacated position. He wasn't happy though but he was careful not to let his displeasure show, he would have to have a talk with Harry later.

Draco on the other hand took the news in stride. It was about damn time he thought, he smirked and revelled at the first sensations of being out of the golden boy's shadow. His place was taken by the one who would have been second in command to him in the prefect's council and so on and so forth. He winked at 'Granger, who was staring mean murder at him before returning to the Slytherin table where more congratulation awaited him. This year will be different; he thought a malicious gleam in his eye.

Harry walked quickly to his room; he'd been assigned private quarters, three months before he beat Voldemort. His chambers existed of a bedroom, furnished with a beautiful oak double bed and matching armoire and vanity; a common room furnished same as the rest of the houses only smaller and having a small kitchenette and decorated completely in black and finally, a training room that was hidden by a tapestry of the Swiss alps on a wall in his common room. He entered his quarters and sat in an armchair by the fire, staring at the burning embers. He didn't like the way things were going, according to his sources Voldemort was amassing troops somewhere and he was getting more powerful each day, his earlier pleas being disregarded by the headmaster meant he had to act swiftly lest they be caught off guard. He walked to his fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder before stepping into the flames and flooing to another room in the castle.

He stumbled into a room twice as big as his own common room. It was similarly furnished but had a bit more colour and more of a feminine touch. Soft music was playing from an old recorder in the corner of the room and incense was burning in other places. He walked forward and towards the small kitchenette in the room. There he saw a lithe witch bending over what looked strangely like a refrigerator; she rummaged in the strange box for a while before coming up with two Styrofoam cups and a chicken leg in her mouth. She was dressed in muggle pyjama's and her hair was tied up on her head messily a few strands escaping here and there, she banged the door closed with her foot and turned around before gasping and almost dropping the bottles she was holding. "Damn it Potter what did I tell you about sneaking up on me?!" Harry just stared at the witch who was staring daggers at him "You dropped your chicken." He turned and walked back to the fire place discarding his robe on one of the chairs, before turning back to face the witch. "We have a problem -" He stopped at the sight that greeted him. "What eh what! You got something to say?!" The witch semi screamed at him almost hysterically, the two Styrofoam containers she was holding were neatly placed on the table and she was currently sitting cross-legged on the rug chewing on the chicken leg that had formerly been acquainted with the floor. He just shook his head and tsk'd before going on "Dumbledore didn't believe me. I think it's time to meet with the elder's Tora". The young witch got up " You sure about this, there's no going back you know". The young man just turned away from her. "It's not like I have much of a choice here and I need to go back to the realm anyway, I'm running low on supplies. May I?" He pointed at the containers on the table, "Yeah. You know you won't need those supplies after you summon the council, you can only use them for three months after." The young man's shoulder's sagged and she could tell he didn't want to talk about it right now, so she changed the subject. "What's this I hear about you causing a ruckus in the great hall?" Harry smiled at her with rosy lips "How'd you hear about that?" Tora laughed "Oh my friend, the walls, they talk to me!" they both broke out into fits of laughter.

Tora had come to teach in Hogwarts that year; she replaced old history teacher, who'd gone off to research some alleged quatrains of Nostradamus. His new teacher and close confidant had been a god sends, especially after the events of his summer, speaking of which, he had yet to tell his friends. He promised himself he'd tell them the next morning; tonight was going to be spent in enjoyable company trying to forget what he was going to have to do. He retired to his chambers shortly after curfew where he spent the rest of the night in his training room.

The next morning Dumbledore summoned Harry to his office to discuss a few things and Harry being Harry decided to take his sweet time getting there. As he entered the office he noticed Hermione sitting opposite Dumbledore, who had quite a sour expression on his face. "Good morning Harry, Please have a seat." He motioned to the chair next to Hermione's. "Sir?" he asked and felt more than saw a presence behind him. "I called you all here because there are a few things I wanted to share with you. Firstly your announcement last night caused quite a commotion Mr. Potter; I discussed your situation with the other teacher's and have seen fit to respect your wishes as well as those of instating Mr Malfoy here to the position of head boy. Now since we so graciously accommodated you it is only proper that you compromise with us as well. It has been decided that you will act as advisor to Mr. Malfoy who WILL follow or at least consider your advice" he added the last part at Drcao's disgruntled look. "And you will have to relinquish your private chambers and take up residence with Hermione and Draco here." Harry was about to protest when the person behind him beat him to the chase. "I don't see why I have to have Potter here as an advisor. I can do the job myself probably even better than potter ever could and I don't see why we" he waved his finger between himself and Hermione "Have to share chambers if he get's his own" The headmaster held up his hand and stopped Malfoy's tirade. "Now now Mr. Malfoy, there's no need to feel threatened by Harry, he already relinquished the position, he will just act as your confidant" Malfoy smirked and Harry seized the opportunity to cut in "Sir, if I may. I'd like to thank you for meeting me half way so to speak but with all due respect my chambers were never part of the package and as such I will be retaining them." He challenged the headmaster's stern look with his own. Giving in, the headmaster sighed and crossed his hands on his desk "Fine Harry, your quarters will however be connected to theirs by a door and the three of you will have monthly meetings with the professors and the prefects council to discuss the state of affairs. Understood?" They all nodded and he dismissed them. He was getting too old for this job; he popped a sherbet into his mouth and started writing some letters.

As soon as they left his office Hermione started admonishing Harry, "Honestly Harry, have you finally lost your head that was the headmaster you were talking to. You could have at least tired to show some respect." Harry just rolled his eyes. "Ha-ha looks like Potty here's got balls" Both Gryffindor's turned to stare at Malfoy. "What" he said in reply before walking away. "Hermione I need to talk to you and Ron tonight. There's something I need to tell you." His friend looked at him concerned before agreeing to rendezvous in his common room after dinner. Only later did Hermione remember that she had absolutely no idea where his chambers were.

Harry sat in his room's, wondering where his friend's were. It was forty five minutes past dinner and they still hadn't shown. He had places to be, people to see; the first time that year e actually asked them for something and they blow him off. He stared at the door; Dumbledore had had installed to magically connect his rooms to the heads' chambers and willed it away. His privacy would soon be a thing of the past. Harry was busy staring down the door and thinking up colourful adjectives to call the headmaster when it suddenly hit him. He blushed for a moment embarrassed at himself; he hadn't actually told his friends where his rooms were. He progressed towards the door that was supposed to connect them trying to think up a suitable apology. But wait, if he had a door on his side, shouldn't that mean they had one on theirs? Meaning they should have been able to come through to his chambers. Anger flooded him again at their blatant disregard for him, if they couldn't come the least they could have done was told him. He was assaulted by the sight of Hermione astride Ron in a heated make out session as soon as he walked through the door. (So this was why they couldn't come see me, bloody great. Let's just blow off little Harry, after all he doesn't really matter.) Realizing he was scowling at Hermione's back and talking about himself in third person which mind you is a sign that something is going horribly wrong, he walked towards the mini kitchen they had in the back and fished around for something to eat. He came up later with a juicy red apple. He walked back towards his friend's dragging with him a chair he removed from the study table they had against the wall, and perched himself on top of the back rest just watching them.

He waited patiently or his friends to finish, slowly counting the minutes away. Five minutes passed then ten and frankly Harry was getting tired of it, the last straw came when Ron slipped his hand up his girlfriend's skirt. Half eaten apple in hand he whistled loudly, "Hey! Remember me?" The two love birds on the couch were startled out of their embrace Hermione falling to the floor and Ron ready to run. "Harry! Sorry, we lost track of time" Hermione stood up brushing down her uniform. "I can see that." Ron blushed before awkwardly waving in Harry's direction. Harry replied with a nod before throwing the apple pip into a trash can in the corner "Where's Malfoy?" Hermione pointed towards his room. "Good, I needed to talk to you two in private." He got off his perch on the chair and began to pace in front of the crackling fireplace, "I don't really know where to start so-"

"Voldemort isn't dead." He heard a gasp from Hermione and Ron paled considerably. "I know on the battlefield that day it looked like I killed him, but I didn't. I only figured it out a week later and even then I wasn't sure enough to say anything about it. You remember how he kept acting really weird when I went up face to face with him?" His friend's nodded. "He was acting as if he didn't know where he was, it's as if someone cast an obliviate on him or something, but we know that can't be possible because he's a very powerful legillimen's. Not to mention there were a few incidences when he could have very easily done away with me but he hesitated."

"Maybe your just lucky mate..." Ron stared at him not wanting to believe what his best friend was telling him.

"Ron, this has nothing to do with luck, Voldemort knew about the prophecy, that I was the only one capable of destroying him for good, why would he let me live? I spent some time at Sirius' place when I was recovering and found some books in his attic, they looked as if they hadn't been used for years; I was bored so I decided to go through them. They were mainly books on potion brewing and dark magic, but there was this particular book that was older than the rest, it was practically falling apart and the title had all but faded. It mostly talked about old magic and how they used to use the elements back then, what caught my attention though was a small article in the middle of the earth element chapter that referred to Grindenwald."

"Wait, you just said it was a really old book, so I'm guessing it was written before Grindenwald was even born? How could they reference him then?" Ron asked looking confused. "It's a magical book Ron, back then author's used to pour their magic into their books so they can magically update events from their sister books relevant to what it was they were writing" Ron nodded gratefully at his girlfriend.

"So as I was saying, I read through the chapter and it mentioned something about 'terra firma alchemy' or earth magic, which used to be harnessed by the Earth's earliest civilizations. It mentioned something about him, Grindenwald trying to harness it, right before his demise and that was it. I was interested in it so I looked it up in the other magic related books in the house but all I could find was a small article about how the ways of Harvesting earth magic had died out with the last of the Inca sorcerer's thousand's of years ago. I asked Remus about it and he promised he'd bring me a few books from his own collection to read on but they were all like the rest of them, they either mentioned minor use of it in the last millennium or how it was near impossible to harness it anymore. The articles they did have however on the Inca's and Aztec's seemed to imply that the head sorcerer's would, under the request of the ruler at that particular time use it to brew him a soul transferring potion. They used to take it when they were nearing their death and transfer into a younger body, hence continuing their rule. They did this for thousand's of years before it all just suddenly stopped. None of the books mentioned how or why. Now according to the potion's gazette of today's world, the potion has yet to be brewed successfully, the test usually ending in certain death for both parties involved. I don't mean to give you a history lesson; I just needed to lay down a platform for you. The night I killed Voldemort, I didn't use the Avada Kedavra curse." they both stared at him quizzically. "I used an ancient Latin soul dispersion curse; that should have ensured he never rose again."

"Harry, that's really dark magic." The room was getting colder as the fire died down. He wandlessly transferred more logs onto it from the side and watched for a minute as it rekindled itself. "The end justifies the means Ron that was all I was thinking about. When I shot it at him, a black orb was supposed to rise from his body and scatter all over the earth, like self combust. What happened instead if I remember correctly was it collapsed in on itself and disappeared. Given Voldemort's power and magical capability that wasn't supposed to happen. Hence concluding I didn't kill him that night I killed someone else in his body." He rubbed his hand over his eyes and let out a deep sigh. Hermione looked pensive, "Then why the whole earth magic lecture?" Ron asked. "Because Ron, If Harry didn't kill Voldemort that means he transferred his soul to another body which means he's found away to harness a very dark very ancient form of magic, that could very well be the end of us all."

"But you can't be sure of that right? There still could be a possibility that it was just a fluke a one time thing?" Harry stared at his friend before walking back to his room and retrieving a file. 

Ron looked at him questioningly "Open it." He did as he was told, his eyes widening at what he read. The file contained a mass of articles on various disaster's that had recently hit the globe, there were land slides in east Asia, hurricanes in the south pacific, earthquakes in Europe and the likes. Each disaster claiming at least a thousand lives, magical and muggle. "Those areas hit worst were peace zones, neutral grounds for dark and light or where wizards and muggles lived with full knowledge of each other.

Silence reigned in the room for the next ten minutes as they all tried to take in what their friend had told them; during this time Malfoy had left his room and gone off in a rush and Harry had taken up his previous position, perched on the chair. "So, now that you've told us the bad news there's some good news right?" Harry smiled at the hope full look on Ron's face. "I wouldn't throw a party just yet mate. It really depends on your conception of good and bad and this is more personal. Just listen to me before you do or say anything ok?" They nodded. 

"Something..." This was harder than he thought it was going to be "Something happened to me during summer that kind of changed me and this is not about Sirius." He said that to wipe out the sympathetic look Hermione sent his way. "My uncle Vernon Company started reorganizing itself, you know laying off some worker's and such and he was on the watch list. So frustrated, he started drinking and you know how that goes; alcohol plus stress equals, domestic violence and such. Now before you go off Ron, I wasn't his main target, we all were. The first two weeks were relatively fine, until he came home completely drunk and pissed and just lost it. He started tossing my aunt around and throwing things so I stunned him and ran before the ministry got there. Hermione, I just don't trust them alright, so don't even go there." She closed her half open mouth. "I was kind of in a daze and didn't know what to do or where to go, so I just wandered around London for sometime, before I was jumped. My memory about that's quite hazy, all I know is I woke up three days later in some old castle in Scotland. I got bitten by a vampire." He looked up at his friends, uncertainty in his eyes. Hermione's back was pressed against the couch and Ron was holding onto her hand, trying to look brave. Hermione spoke first "But your ok right?" Harry laughed. "If you call semi- dead alright then yes, I'm just peachy." Seeing it didn't help his friends calm down he went on. "The vampire that attacked me was a rogue; he let me there for dead. I was found by another vampire called Raven; my surrogate guardian who was in town for a conference and her husband Alexander. I was bleeding out in that alleyway, so she took pity on me and turned me." Hermione tried to stand up "Harry I really don't think I want to…." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Damn it Hermione, just hear me out. Raven and Alexander took me to their coven; a castle in Scotland. She barely knew me yet gave me her blood to save me and she's not really a vampire so she didn't have to but she did. I stayed with them for the rest of the summer and they introduced me to the coven and taught me the ways of the realm. In some ways it's a good thing, because they treat me like their own son which means technically I have a new family and Voldemort can't kill me now, because I'm already dead." He looked up at his friends again, who still looked scared. He got off his seat and walked over to a window that overlooked the black lake.  
"Um but if Raven gave you her blood and she's not a vampire, how are you a vampire and if you are one doesn't that mean you can't go out in the sun?" Ron tried to keep a brave face in front of his friend but failed miserably. "Alexander's a vampire and Raven, who's half veela is his mate. Since she's not a vampire and I'm a powerful wizard I'm not completely turned. I am still somewhat of a vampire because I was killed by one though I still have my soul. This," He held up his right hand exposing a platinum ring embossed with runes. "Prevents the sun from harming me, Alexander warmed up to me and had it made for me." At least Ron was trying he told himself with another look in Hermione's direction. "What's 'The Realm'?" Ron's courage was coming back. "There's different coven's all over the world hierarchically headed by an elder who's also a member of the council. Even though we all belong to different coven's we're all citizens of the realm, which is all the covens together headed jointly by the council. The realm is like common ground for all of us, like all the houses in Hogwarts with magical access to one common room." Ron nodded. Harry risked a glance at Hermione who was looking down at the moment, but looked up just before he looked away. She could see the hurt look on his face. "Harry, I'm sorry I just can't do this. You know my aunt and uncle were killed by vampires. I just don't know how I can trust you now that your one of them" She looked as distraught as she sounded. 

"Hermione, I don't go around killing people. The only one's who do that are rogue vampires, who are bad humans or dark wizard's that have been turned. Plus I'm not a full vampire really, I still have a soul, I would never kill or even think of killing an innocent person." Hermione just shook her head "But you still drink human blood" He looked at her willing her to understand him "It's willingly given Hermione, from blood banks and such, never forcefully taken." She dragged Ron off the couch with her whispering sorry to Harry and dragged him up to her room." 

Harry cursed colourfully as soon as the door closed behind them and walked back to his own room. He went straight to his training room where he vented off his frustrations on conjured opponents with his sword.

He emerged two hours later, sweat dripping like a fountain off him and millions of tiny little cuts and bruises littering his body. The worst cut was on his collar bone which wept blood onto his white vest turning it crimson. He pulled off said clothing and threw it in a corner before proceeding to his kitchenette. "What in the hell happened to you?" Harry stiffened before relaxing and withdrawing an opaque bottle from his ice box and drinking from it. "None of your business Malfoy now what are you doing here?" He turned around to face the blond. "How'd you do that?" He asked, staring at the gashes on the raven haired man's torso. "Pine cone and mint right? I smelled you. Answer my question." He watched as Draco walked up to him. 

"May I" He asked pointing to the bleeding wound, Harry nodded. Malfoy placed his hand n the open gash and whispered something. His hand glowed as Harry felt the wound heal. He watched as Malfot wandlessly scourgified his bloody hand and stored the information for later use. "Thank you." Draco nodded and went to sit on one of the chairs (You've got to give some to win some he thought. "To answer your question, your friends are in there and at it like rabbits from the sounds of it they haven't learned the use of a good silencing spell. Frankly it's disgusting." Harry laughed before screwing his face up as he got a mental picture "Ugh. Fair enough." He walked to his room. Before he could open the door however Malfoy's voice floated over to him and he froze.

"Is it true that Voldemort's back?" 


End file.
